Another Looming Government Shutdown? Taxes, Religion, and Post Offices? – This Week in Congress
This week the two houses of Congress are meeting to bring their respective tax bills together. These meetings are called “Conference Committees”; leaders from the Senate and House are working to melt two complicated documents into one.
Republicans hope to have the bill on the president’s desk before Christmas, but this will not be an easy process. The trouble begins with Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY)’s comments after Doug Jones victory in the special Senatorial election in Alabama. The Washington Examiner reported that on Tuesday McConnell told reporters, “Sen. Strange is going to be here through the end of this session.”
This drew a huge backlash from Democrats. With the Alabama seat flipped, Republicans only hold a majority of 51 votes, which would make passing the tax bill a lot harder.
Furthermore, while the tax bill has taken precedent lately, there is a much bigger issue looming in the background. Government Shutdown. Yes, Americans will again watch lawmakers work to pass a budget. And as we will see in the coming week, a process that should have been taken care of long ago, will see many factions in Congress making demands. It will be a big game of chicken. As we have seen in past years, sometimes, representatives have no problem letting the whole thing crash.
Despite the big debates happening, every week there are bills being introduced that fly under the radar. If you knew about them, you’d definitely be interested. This week there’s an act affecting the status of religious institutions, one focusing in on Iranian activity, and a few post offices being renamed! (Okay I’m joking about the last one.) But thanks to BillCam, I can bring to you an overview of a couple bills specially selected by the Daily Clout team and a schedule of this week in Congress.
The Week of December 11th:
H.R. 1730 – Protecting Religiously Affiliated Institutions Act of 2017
Sponsored by Rep. David Kustoff (R-TN)
HR 1730 passed on Monday with Bipartisan support.
The bill would clarify and strengthen the coverage of current laws against damaging religious property. Specifically, the bill amends the Church Arson Prevention Act to clarify that the conduct covered under this statute includes bomb threats to religious institutions, whether they be synagogues, mosques, churches, or religious community centers. The bill will increase the penalty for those that damage property of religious institutions including community centers.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States has increased by 86% in the first three months of 2017. These incidents include vandalism, cemetery desecrations, and bomb threats against community centers.
This legislation amends current law to ensure individuals who make violent threats against religious institutions can be prosecuted for obstructing people from practicing their right to exercise their religious beliefs.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States has increased by 86% in the first three months of 2017.
According to the bill’s sponsor, “Religious tolerance is the bedrock on which our great nation was founded. We must stand united against acts of hate and protect the rights of all Americans to worship freely and without fear. This bipartisan bill strengthens federal criminal statutes to prevent threats made against any religious institution.”
It garnered huge bipartisan support. Legislators are hopeful that it will preserve Religious tolerance.
H.R. 1638 – Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act
Sponsored by Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-ME)
Next up is H.R. 1638 – Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act. This bill, that passed on Wednesday, would require the Treasury Dept. to provide Congress with a report on assets held by the leadership of Iran’s government.The initial report would be due within 270 days of the bill’s enactment, and subsequent reports would be required for each of the next two years. The unclassified portion of the report would be made publicly available and posted on Treasury’s website in downloadable English, Farsi, Arabic, and Azeri versions.
Specifically, the report would include information on:
- The funds or assets held in U.S. and foreign financial institutions that are directly or indirectly controlled by specified Iranian officials
- Any equity stake such official has in an entity on Treasury’s list of Specially Designated Nationals or in any other sanctioned entity
- How such funds, assets, or equity interests were acquired and used
- How Treasury assesses the effectiveness of U.S. economic sanctions against Iran
The CBO estimates the legislation will cost approximately 500 thousand dollars. Democrats did not like this bill. They argued that although increasing transparency into corrupt regimes is a good idea, this particular bill would not promote U.S. national security interests. They think the Treasuries hands are already full watching Iran and actors around the globe for instances of sanction-able offenses, making them do these reports would divert resources. They also feared that this emphasis would give North Korea a less scrutiny. Which is something, I don’t think any of us want.
Here are other bills addressed this week:
H.R. 3359 – Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act of 2017, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Michael McCaul / Homeland Security Committee)
H.R. 3669 – Securing General Aviation and Commercial Charter Air Carrier Service Act of 2017, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Ron Estes / Homeland Security Committee)
H.R. 2706 – Financial Institution Customer Protection Act of 2017, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer / Financial Services Committee)
H.R. 3093 – Investor Clarity and Bank Parity Act (Sponsored by Rep. Michael Capuano / Financial Services Committee)
H.R. 1730 – Protecting Religiously Affiliated Institutions Act of 2017, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. David Kustoff / Judiciary Committee)
H.R. 2880 – Promoting Closed-Loop Pumped Storage Hydropower Act, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Morgan Griffith / Energy and Commerce Committee)
H.R. 2872 – Promoting Hydropower Development at Existing Nonpowered Dams Act, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Larry Bucshon / Energy and Commerce Committee)
H.R. 1733 – To direct the Secretary of Energy to review and update a report on the energy and environmental benefits of the re-refining of used lubricating oil (Sponsored by Rep. Susan Brooks / Energy and Commerce Committee)
H.R. 4171 – To amend title 5, United States Code, to extend the authority to conduct telework travel expenses test programs, and for other purposes, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Greg Gianforte / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)
H.R. 2815 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 30 East Somerset Street in Raritan, New Jersey, as the “Sergeant John Basilone Post Office” (Sponsored by Rep. Leonard Lance / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)
H.R. 1208 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 9155 Schaefer Road, Converse, Texas, as the “Converse Veterans Post Office Building” (Sponsored by Rep. Henry Cuellar / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)
H.R. 3638 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1100 Kings Road in Jacksonville, Florida, as the “Rutledge Pearson Post Office Building” (Sponsored by Rep. Al Lawson / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)
H.R. 3655 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1300 Main Street in Belmar, New Jersey, as the “Dr. Walter S. McAfee Post Office Building” (Sponsored by Rep. Christopher Smith / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)
H.R. 4042 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1415 West Oak Street, in Kissimmee, Florida, as the “Borinqueneers Post Office Building” (Sponsored by Rep. Darren Soto / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)
H.R. 4285 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 123 Bridgeton Pike in Mullica Hill, New Jersey, as the “James C. Billy Johnson Post Office Building” (Sponsored by Rep. Frank LoBiondo / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)
H.Res. 407 – Condemning the persecution of Christians around the world, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Glenn Grothman / Foreign Affairs Committee)
H.Res. 336 – Reaffirming a strong commitment to the United States-Mexico partnership (Sponsored by Rep. Eliot Engel / Foreign Affairs Committee)
H.Res. 357 – Reaffirming the strategic partnership between the United States and Canada, recognizing bilateral cooperation that advances United States national interests, and urging increased bilateral cooperation on security, economic issues, and energy, and for other purposes, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Jeff Duncan / Foreign Affairs Committee)
H.R. 3971 – Community Institution Mortgage Relief Act of 2017, Rules Committee Print (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Claudia Tenney / Financial Services Committee)
H.R. 1638 – Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act, Rules Committee Print (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Bruce Poliquin / Financial Services Committee)
H.R. 4324 – Strengthening Oversight of Iran’s Access to Finance Act, Rules Committee Print (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Roger Williams / Financial Services Committee)
H.R. 2396 – Privacy Notification Technical Clarification Act (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Dave Trott / Financial Services Committee)
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